2020-03-30_Bloomberg_Businessweek

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BloombergBusinessweek March 30, 2020

 IN BRIEF

○ TheU.S.governmentagreedonaneconomicstimulus

packagevaluedatmorethan

○ Airlinesworldwidecould

loserevenueof

$252b

fromthepandemic

thisyear,accordingto

theInternationalAir

TransportAssociation,

whichcalledthecrisis

moreseverethan

anythingthesector

haseverfaced. 15

○ SoftBankfounder

MasayoshiSonunveileda

$41b

plantoselloffassetsand

shoreupthebusiness’s

crumblingmarketvalue.

Thefiresaleincludesthe

disposalofabout$14billion

ofsharesin Chinese

e-commerceleaderAlibaba.

Sonalsoexploredways

togoprivate,theFinancial

Timesreported.

○ Airbussuspendedits

dividendpayoutfor 2019

toconservecashandsaid

it wouldtapa newlineof

credit,givingtheplane

makeraccessto€30billion

($32billion)in totalfunds

asa bufferagainstslowing

demandfromairlines.The

companyitselfisn’tseeking

ernmentbailout,butit

entoaidasa fallback.

○ Intelhas

droppedplansto

buybackasmuch

as$20billion

worthofstock

overthenext

15 to 18 months.

○ BillAckmansaidhe’s

invested$2.5billionin

thestocksofcompanies

includingLowe’s,Hilton

Worldwide,andStarbucks.

TheU.S.activistinvestoris

bettingthattheeconomy

willrecoverfromitsvirus-

inducedslump.

○ Croatiawasstruckbyitsworst

earthquakein 140years.Thetemblor

damagedthefacadesofmany19th

centurybuildingsin Zagreb,thecapital.

○“I can’t jump

in front of the

microphone and

push him down.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious

Diseases, in a Science magazine interview, on correcting President Trump’s

misstatements about the coronavirus.

○ Autoworkers in Wuhan, the city where the novel coronavirus first emerged in

December, take their lunch break on March 23. China said it would end the mass

quarantine of the city on April 8. Its province, Hubei, has reported no new infections.

Repurchasing shares has become a

politically prickly topic. Democrats

demanded that any aid from the

government be conditioned upon

buyback curbs, saying that companies

should use funds instead to support

their workforce.  12

The plan includes assistance to

companies including airlines, aid for

hospitals, and direct payments to

lower-income Americans.  8, 12

Meanwhile, Rand Paul of Kentucky

became the first senator to test

positive for Covid-19; two other

Republican senators he exposed went

into self-quarantine.

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